Ford Motor Company announced an aggressive product acceleration in its newest business unit, Middle East & Africa, leveraging the company’s One Ford global portfolio and targeting opportunities for growth in small, mid-size and large vehicle segments. During a special “Go Further” event in Johannesburg attended by 1,000 employees, Ford dealers, suppliers, government officials, and media, Ford pledged to launch at least 25 new vehicles by 2016 to Middle East & Africa.

The company also confirmed that several additional vehicles from its global portfolio will come to Middle East & Africa in the near term—including the Mustang.

The product acceleration announcement comes only six months after Ford realigned the four regions of North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa and the Middle East into a new single Ford Middle East & Africa business unit to better serve customers and expand in the fast-growing region.

The total Middle East and Africa car market is expected to grow 40 percent by the end of the decade to 5.5 million vehicles. Middle East & Africa is the final frontier for global automotive growth and we are putting the infrastructure and people in place to participate in this growth with the introduction of new products, leveraging our One Ford global strengths.

—Jim Benintende, president, Ford Middle East & Africa

The next two years will see a major expansion of Ford’s vehicle and technology line-up in South Africa. In total, 17 vehicles will be launched or refreshed, including new Ford Focus, Fusion, Ranger XL-Plus, Transit and Mustang.

At the Go Further event, Ford showed images of the Figo Concept previewing Ford’s next-generation, compact, smart small vehicle. Figo Concept suggests a production version with capability and powertrain features customers want at an affordable price point. One noteworthy feature in the concept includes an innovative dock for mounting and charging devices such as mobile phones, media players, and satellite navigation systems.